BMW GAP Team Matches schedule unveiled

  Temperatures over the weekend suggested spring. Perhaps the weather coincides with the much-anticipated release of the BMW GAP Team Matches schedule.

  Now in its 116th playing, the BMW GAP Team Matches will take place April 10, 17 and May 1. The Playoff & Challenges is set for Saturday, May 7. BMW, the official automotive partner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia, returns as the event’s presenting sponsor.

  A total of 332 teams from 138 Full Member Clubs will participate in the BMW GAP Team Matches. Three clubs from three states — Greenbriar Oceanaire Golf & Country Club (Waretown, N.J.), Elkview Country Club (Carbondale, Pa.) and Wild Quail Golf & Country Club (Wyoming, Del.) — will do so for the first time. Furthermore, three clubs — Overbrook Golf Club, Philadelphia Cricket Club and Tavistock Country Club — will each field five teams.

  The Top 16 teams occupy four sections in Division AA. Two of those 16 hail from Philadelphia Cricket. The club captured last year’s crown and returns as defending champion. Philadelphia Cricket’s second team won a Challenge Match against White Manor Country Club to advance to Division AA. It is the first time in BMW GAP Team Matches history that two teams from one club will hold residence in Division AA.

  Challenges in other Divisions (A to AA and B to A) enable teams to move up. A Playoff among the winners of each section in Division AA determines the BMW GAP Team Matches champion.

  The BMW GAP Team Matches, which began in 1897, is the oldest interclub competition in the nation. Participating clubs field teams of 12, with each member competing in a singles and a four-ball match simultaneously.

  Originally known as the Interclub Team Matches, the competition became the Suburban League Matches in 1915 and the GAP Team Matches in 1997. It wasn’t contested from 1943-45 because of World War II and in 1994 due to severe icing, which created unplayable conditions at golf courses throughout the region.

Golf Association of Philadelphia
Founded in 1897, the Golf Association of Philadelphia (GAP) is the oldest regional golf association in the United States and serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. Its 153 Full Member Clubs and 57,000 individual members are spread across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. As Philadelphia’s Most Trusted Source of Golf Information, the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.